Earlier this month, we hosted a salary cap draft with respected analysts from the Fantasy Football industry. While there were some bargains and some overpays, the results offered a good representation of what players should go for in a $100 league.

The salary cap draft held with 12 CBS Sports employees was much more out of control – and exactly the kind of draft you can learn from before you head into yours.

It was a typical salary cap format like any other: 12 teams, $100 budget. Our scoring was full-PPR with traditional CBS scoring otherwise (six points per passing touchdown). The lineups included one QB, two RBs, two WRs, one TE, two FLEX, one DST.

But then the bidding began and so did the spending! Bijan Robinson ($29), Jahmyr Gibbs ($28), Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey ($27 each) were early big-ticket items, but even they didn’t go for as much as Ja’Marr Chase ($35!) and CeeDee Lamb ($31).

The unbridled spending continued as 13 of the first 24 nominations on non-DSTs landed final bids of $25 or more, and another four went for $20 or more. Two managers had three $20-plus players each.

By the time we got to around nomination No. 87, reality hit most of the managers of the league in the face: When the money’s gone, the only things left are bargains.

And that, my dear friends, is why saving some of your fake Fantasy dollars in a salary cap draft is a wise idea, especially when others spend wildly at the beginning.

George Kittle went for $8 when Brock Bowers fetched $21 and Trey McBride went for $16! Davante Adams ($9) went for less than Emeka Egbuka ($11), Tetairoa McMillan ($10), and the same price as Travis Hunter. Kenneth Walker ($9) went for less than TreVeyon Henderson ($14), Breece Hall ($13) and R.J. Harvey ($11).

And if you think those bids were crazy, just wait until you see what James Conner, David Montgomery, DeVonta Smith, D.J. Moore, Jerry Jeudy, Sam LaPorta, Baker Mayfield and Dak Prescott went for. You’ll wish you were in this league.

When you head into your salary cap drafts, it’s great to have a guideline of what to spend on each player, but you should aim to not grossly overspend too soon. At minimum, remember The 20/50 Rule: Have at least 20% of your initial budget for the last 50% of your draft. That gives you the ammo needed to swipe some steals, as many – but not all – did in our league.

The other must-know tip for these things is to pay attention to the draft and keep tabs on your opponents’ budgets. Those who were paying attention in this league knew that the overspending teams would be out of commission sooner than later and that bargains would be had. Just by being aware you can dominate a salary cap draft.

I thought it would be a good idea to introduce our managers by first classifying them based on how they spent, then by each one of them giving the one player they regretted getting.